Quark and Gluon Tomography of the Helium-4 Nucleus
Abstract
QCD collinear factorization allows coherent hard exclusive reactions to reveal the quark-gluon structure of light nuclei, enabling their 3D tomography. In this Letter, we investigate elastic form factors and deeply virtual Compton scattering on a helium-4 target. We achieve unprecedented theoretical precision for this type of analysis by constraining generalized parton distributions at next-to-leading order in α s , incorporating kinematic twist corrections, and utilizing full evolution equations. Ultimately, we present the first tomography of a light nucleus, revealing distinct transverse spatial distributions of quarks and gluons.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions
Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies
Particle Detector Development and Performance
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Physical Review Letters
- Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Volume
- 137
- Issue
- 11
- Publication date
- 20 August 2026
- Language
- EN